美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-10-03

 We start with a riddle¹. What group has less than 200 members, but represents more than 6 billion people? It was founded in 1945. Its headquarters is in New York City. We are talking about the United Nations. In this week, it's a big one for the International organization. Representatives from most of the U.N.’s member countries are coming in New York for the annual session of the General Assembly. It will be a week of speeches, debate and diplomacy².

 

Before we get too far into some of the subjects that might be discussed, here are some fast facts in the General Assembly itself.

 

Just the facts. The General Assembly is one of the main bodies of the United Nations. All of the U.N. 193 members are represented in the General Assembly. It’s the organization’s main policy making group, but the General Assembly’s decisions are not legally binding³. The Assembly’s regular annual session begins on the 3rd Tuesday in September.

 

The civil war in Syria is likely to come up. In speeches to the General Assembly, the country gave an initial list of its chemical weapons last week. It is part of the deal proposed by the U.S. and Russia. There is also speculation⁴ about whether American and Iranian leaders might meet this week. Those two nations have a tense history. In 1979, Iranian revolutionary stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran. That’s the capital of Iran. They held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. In 1984, the U.S. government declared that Iran was a state sponsor of terrorism. In recent years, Iran’s nuclear program has caused controversy⁵. The U.S. and other countries believe Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Iran has a new president Hasan Rouhani. He was elected this year, and he appears to be reaching out to the U.S..

 

A tough high-stakes called this week for Barack Obama at the U.N.. Should he take a bold gamble and try and meet with the new president of a state that is pretty much against everything the U.S. stands for—Iran. After decades of animosity, American, the great * to Iran, and Iran, part of the U.S.’s old axis⁶ of evil, that may be a thaw⁷ afoot.

 

As if to set that new tone, a very public invitation to meet came from Iran`s president on twitter. Hassan Rouhani said Sunday, he was ready for dialogue without preconditions. While no meeting has been set, the White House is clear it may be time to talk, if Iran is serious about giving up the desire that the U.S. says it has to make a nuclear bomb. Since he took office, Obama said, he would welcome diplomacy with Iran.

 

“We will extend the hand, if you`re willing to unclench your fist. ”

 

But there are many, including U.S. ally Israel that question how sincere Iran`s diplomatic overture<sup>8</sup> is. And remind Washington of how just one year ago with the U.N. General Assembly, Iran`s last President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, railed against the U.S. and Israel. 

 

There`s been very limited diplomacy between Washington and Tehran since the U.S. embassy hostage crisis in 1979. But sanctions haven`t yet forced Iran to drop its nuclear program and the clock is ticking. Is Iran cracking under international pressure or playing for time -- that will be tough to answer even if Obama`s bold enough to meet this man. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, New York.

1 riddle   

n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜

参考例句：

• The riddle couldn't be solved by the child.这个谜语孩子猜不出来。
• Her disappearance is a complete riddle.她的失踪完全是一个谜。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

4 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 axis   

n.轴，轴线，中心线；坐标轴，基准线

参考例句：

• The earth's axis is the line between the North and South Poles.地轴是南北极之间的线。
• The axis of a circle is its diameter.圆的轴线是其直径。

7 thaw   

v.（使）融化，（使）变得友善；n.融化，缓和

参考例句：

• The snow is beginning to thaw.雪已开始融化。
• The spring thaw caused heavy flooding.春天解冻引起了洪水泛滥。

8 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。